Disclosed herein are colorant compounds. More specifically, disclosed herein are colorant compounds particularly suitable for use in hot melt or phase change inks.
Many known colorant compounds are not soluble in phase change ink carriers. Further, pigment colorants, which are generally particulate in nature, as opposed to dye colorants, which are soluble in a selected carrier at the molecular level, can exhibit disadvantages such as settling of the pigment within the ink carrier, leading to difficulties such as clogging of the ink jet printhead. Accordingly, metal-free dye-based colorants that are soluble in phase change ink carriers continue to be desirable.